Biographical Summary:

Name: Mike Bourke
Age: 40 at the time of writing
Brithday: March 21st
Nationality: Australian, and proud of it
Profession: Computer Programmer, Bookkeeper, Graphic Artist, Writer & Novelist
Other Interests: Formula 1, Role-playing games, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Favorite TV Shows (in no particular order): Law & Order, CSI, Babylon 5, Lois & Clark (first 3 seasons), JAG, The Simpsons, Quincy, UNSUB, LA Law
Favorite Movies (in no particular order): The Lord Of The Rings (all movies), Star Wars (all movies), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, The Pelican Brief, Aliens, T2: Judgement Day, Die Hard, The Mummy, Apollo 13, The Sting, Toy Story, A Few Good Men, 12 Angry Men, Volcano
Favorite Bands / Music Artists (in no particular order): Def Leppard, Lita Ford, Kiss, The Electric Light Orchestra, The Eagles, Joe Jackson, Rickie Lee Jones, The Bee Gees, Matthew Sweet, Wings, Glass Tiger, Roxette, Tommy Emmanuel, Sky (Peek/Williams/Flowers/Fry/Monkman), Gerry Rafferty, Asia, Glen Campbell, Little River Band, Sharon O'Niell, Sherbet, Icehouse, Pat Benetar, City Boy, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, John Cougar Mellencamp, Rhino Bucket, Survivor, Toto, Kim Wilde, Nick Kershaw, The Motels, Bryan Adams, The Alan Parsons Project, Supertramp, Wilson Phillips, Al Stewart, Olivia Newton-John, Pink, Silverchair.

My Life In Music:

I've always been in love with music. I've been told that from the age of 6 months I was recognising tunes on the radio, with a preferance for strong melodies. This was the era of the Beatles, and music was exploding into the popular consciousness in a way that had never really been seen before - and I wasn't going to miss out.
I must have been about 7 when I started composing. Silly stuff - I couldn't play an instrument, but I knew what the notes on a staff meant, and I quite happily put the dots in what looked like interesting patterns and unusual combinations. My aunt would then do her best to play whatever strange new creation I had concocted. I remember using mathematical formulae to determine what the next note should be, playing around with Prime Numbers, and using strange and bizarre time dignatures like 7/16.
Over the years, I added other forms of music to my playlist, discovering R&B, West Coast rock, Hard Rock, Synthesizers, & Heavy Metal, and lost my fascination for composing. I turned to artwork and writing for my creative kicks. My love of music was bolstered by what became the most influential music television programme in Australia - certainly the most influential them, and possibly ever: COUNTDOWN. With the invention of the Video Clip, the novelty of a show which brought new pop onto the TV every week was a godsend.
Later, when the new repeater tower was erected in the small country town in rural New South Wales in which I lived, I discovered that I could receive the signal on the FM band of my radio/cassette recorder. With Countdown broadcast on Sunday and repeated the following Saturday, I adopted the practice of writing down the sequence of clips shown on Sunday - and recording the ones I liked from Saturday's repeat. I would play the resulting tape all through the week. When it was filled, I started recording over the top. So I was always listening to whatever was newest and brightest - In my opinion - on the Australian music scene. (I've given an overview of Australian musical history on the next page).

Everyone grows up in time, and I was no exception. I found myself working for one of Australia's most prominant Banks one winter, with nothing to do. By now I had what I considered a massive collection of music, all on Cassette - everything from Beatles to Gary Numan, from Eagles to AC/DC to Bay City Rollers to Yes. I began writing Lyrics, and trying to compose music to go with them. But the time came when that led me into lyrical composition (I still have many of the pieces I wrote back then, carefully filed for later use). Some friends and I talked about starting a band - we even got a rehearsal or two in at the local music store - but everyone wanted to be the drummer, so it never went anywhere.
A few years later, still writing lyrics, I acquired a second-hand guitar, and started teaching myself to play and compose in a more serious way. I was just starting to get good at it when the guitar was stolen - and I couldn't afford to replace it at the time. (I Still havn't replaced it).

And then, through a combination of strokes of serendepity, my creative life was changed.

#1: I had earned my stripes as an analyst programmer by then, and got involvced in a project which had one major side-benefit - I would acquire a slightly out-of-date PC as part of the deal. While it would be reserved for work 40 hours a week (or so), the rest of the time it was mine to play with.

#2: I started acquiring various PC-related magazines with CD-ROMS on the covers - the latest demos and freeware. And I happened to pick up an old one second-hand which had a time-unlimited MIDI sequencing program on it, from a company in the UK called Evolution. The demo was an old programme, dating from the Windows 95 era - but it worked, it was easy to use, and it fitted me like a glove.

I never looked back......